MTL - The King - Chapter 18 trade-off

The red meteor shower rained across the sky, a black fog engulfed the world.

After waking from a night of torture and agony,

Humans discovered they no longer dominated the world.

—The hunters have become the hunted.

After the apocalypse, I struggled for survival for ten bitter years, but ultimately couldn’t escape death.

But when I opened my eyes again, I had transformed from an ordinary 35-year old woman into a beautiful young man of 18.

A different gender, a world that is both familiar yet not, an apocalypse that has vanished without a trace, and an unexpected return of 17 years of youth.

Looking around, I discovered I had a powerful, protective big brother and a gentle, charming little sister.

Just as things couldn’t possibly look any brighter—

The end of the world came crashing down again.

And this time around, is it fight? Or flight?

The Apocalypse is in full swing. Defiled - powerful creatures corrupted by the Great Collision - prowled the lands in search of prey. Unfortunately for them, the human race had long since retreated behind the secure walls of the Sanctuary of Everlast. During one of his regular excursions outside the Sanctuary, Alden is separated from Celeste. - his childhood friend and crush. In that moment, he came to regret never summoning the courage to confess. Somehow managing to survive thanks to some trickery, Alden awakens as a mage. Instead of receiving a normal power, he gains the ability to decay. What’s more, during his ascension, he received a vision from his future self advising him not to trust the Asterons - celestial beings who had saved his race from inescapable doom. Normally... such a revelation wouldn’t faze Alden. However, there was only one major problem with the declaration, though. Celeste was bound with an Asteron. And not just any normal Asteron... She had made a pact with one of the Divine Sovereigns.

Abigail’s only crime in life was being born as the mute daughter of the deceptive maid, who drugged her boss and got pregnant for him… or so she thought.All her life she had to serve her stepsister, Genevieve, attending to her every whim. While Genevieve used every opportunity she got to make Abigail’s life hell, even to the point of seducing Abigail’s boyfriend.On the night she resumes college, Abigail crosses path with Jamal Jonas, a heartbroken elusive billionaire, who leaves behind a stuffed animal that belonged to his first love. Abigail keeps the stuffed animal, which stirs her long lost memories.Five years later, Jamal shows up again, but this time as Genevieve's new live-in driver.Working for Genevieve quickly places him near the supposedly mute and intelligent Abigail who he doesn’t immediately recognize, and soon enough, Jamal finds himself pulled in by Abigail's charms.Jamal quickly realizes there is more to her than meets the eye, and there might be more connecting Abigail to his first love than Genevieve.

[Sweet Baby + Parenting + Doting In-laws + Light-hearted + Redemption]Xu Wan became a widow right after her marriage, initially hoping to enjoy a carefree life as a Marquis’s wife.Unexpectedly, on her very first day at the mansion, that notorious troublemaker of a stepson, infamous throughout the capital, tried to intimidate her twice.Xu Wan grabbed a knife and rushed out, instantly becoming the talk of the entire capital!Though she thought her dreams of being the Marquis’s wife were over, her in-laws surprisingly retaliated by entrusting the little devil to her care for reformation.Xu Wan: “???”Little Devil: “???”At first, no one believed it would work…But later, the maids would exclaim in amazement every day:“The young master who never studied is actually going to the study room!”“The young master is even bringing foot-washing water for the old Marquis!”“The young master actually saved all the children in the slums!”…The Marquis’s mansion was shocked, the entire capital was shocked, even His Majesty in the palace was shocked.Word spread that the Marquis’s wife had a special talent for reforming troublesome children. Soon, court officials began sending their rebellious sons to the mansion, and the mansion’s “elite class” kept growing!Three years later.The Minister of Rites, responsible for the imperial examinations, wailed to the heavens: “It’s impossible to choose! They’re all top candidates!”